Posts Tagged ‘Grafton’

Applications for the 2015 round of grants from the Northern Border Regional Commission are now available, according to Mark Scarano, the alternate federal co-chairman of the Northern Border Regional Commission. About $4.5 million is available; the maximum grant amount for any applicant is $250,000.

Created by the US Congress in 2008, the NBRC’s mission is to help alleviate economic distress and encourage job creation throughout the northern regions in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

Within New Hampshire, the commission’s grant programs cover Coos, Grafton, Carroll and Sullivan counties. The deadline is 4 pm, June 17. Application information is available here.

Eligible grant projects must develop the transportation, water, sewer, energy and telecommunications infrastructure of the region; assist the region in obtaining job skills and employment related education, as well as entrepreneurship, technology and business development; provide basic health care and other public services for those areas that are severely economically distressed and underdeveloped; promote resource conservation, tourism, recreation, and preservation of open spaces in a manner consistent with economic development goals and to promote the development of renewable and alternative energy sources.

Last year, the commission awarded $968,365 to New Hampshire projects. The Women’s Rural Entrepreneurial Network (WREN), $161,670; the Town of Littleton, $250,000; the Coos Economic Development Council, $250,000; the Northern Community Investment Corp. (NCIC), $200,000 and the University of New Hampshire Broadband Mapping and Planning Program, $106,695 were recipients of grants in 2014.

Applications from New Hampshire agencies and organizations must be submitted to the state’s Division of Economic Development for processing. The division will also provide technical assistance to prospective grantees and make sure that applications are full and complete. After the ranking is completed, the governors of the four states will certify to the commission their priority projects.

Over the past five years, the NBRC has awarded 50 grants totaling over $9 million. At the completion of these projects, it is estimated that almost 5,000 jobs will be created and/or saved.

For every $1 of NBRC federal funds expended, they will be leveraged with approximately $2 of other public or private funds.

New Hampshire applicants should contact Christopher Way of the NH Division of Economic Development at (603) 271-2591.